Bhubaneswar: Fresh controversy has erupted in Odisha after teachers identified errors in the National Anthem and the state’s official song, ‘Bande Utkala Janani’, in Class 1 Odia textbooks supplied by the state government to private English-medium schools.
The issue has drawn widespread criticism from educators and parents, who say inaccuracies in such important national and cultural symbols are unacceptable, especially in books meant for young children.
Teachers raise alarm over anthem and state song errors
According to teachers, the Class 1 Odia textbook ‘Jhulana-1’ contains a spelling error in the word ‘Utkala’ in the National Anthem. They also pointed out an omission in Odisha’s state song, ‘Bande Utkala Janani’, where one occurrence of the word ‘Ghana’ is missing from the phrase ‘Ghana Ghana Banabhumi’.
Educators said such mistakes could mislead students at an early stage of learning and undermine the importance of correctly teaching the National Anthem and the state’s cultural heritage.
Apart from these errors, teachers also questioned the sequence in which the Odia alphabet has been introduced, claiming it deviates from the traditional method taught in schools.
Government says corrections are underway
The controversy comes shortly after more than 1,600 errors were reported in 55 textbooks used in Odisha’s government schools, prompting a CID-Crime Branch investigation.
Responding to the latest allegations, the School and Mass Education Department said reports of fresh errors were “unjustified” and clarified that corrections are already being made based on feedback from educationists and language experts. It assured that revised textbooks would soon be supplied to students.
Meanwhile, parents have urged the government to ensure error-free printed textbooks are distributed, stressing that books containing mistakes in the National Anthem and Odisha’s state song should not be used in classrooms.